HS FOOTBALL: Midland High's Goodrum ready for the spotlight

Published 4:37 pm, Thursday, October 31, 2013

Midland High quarterback Ryan Goodrum runs on a keeper against Lubbock Coronado on Friday at Grande Communications Stadium. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram

Midland High quarterback Ryan Goodrum runs on a keeper against Lubbock Coronado on Friday at Grande Communications Stadium. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram

Photo: JAMES DURBIN

HS FOOTBALL: Midland High's Goodrum ready for the spotlight

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

Everything gets hotter under the spotlight. Many can’t handle the pressure of it. Ryan Goodrum believes he can.

Goodrum was thrust into the spotlight last week when he took over at quarterback for the Bulldogs in the second quarter against Lubbock Coronado. And did he ever shine, passing for a school record 418 yards and five TDs in helping turn a 22-0 deficit into a 63-55 victory for the Bulldogs.

But the bright lights are only going to get hotter for Midland High’s junior quarterback. Goodrum makes his first varsity start at 7:30 p.m. today when the Bulldogs (4-4, 3-3 in District 2-5A) visit Odessa High (2-4, 3-5) in a key 2-5A tilt filled with playoff implications.

Since Goodrum’s breakthrough performance against Coronado, the junior has garnered a bit of fame among his peers. Over the weekend a parody Twitter account -- @TheRyanFootball -- was created as a play on the “Johnny Football” moniker placed on Texas A&M’s Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Johnny Manziel.

Now Goodrum finds himself being called “Ryan Football” constantly.

“It’s a little different. I try to stay away from it so it doesn’t get in my head,” said Goodrum, who claims he doesn’t know who started the parody Twitter account. “Everybody around school, pretty much everyone I see says, ‘Oh, hey look it’s Ryan Football.’ It’s everywhere I go.

“It’s a little bit of a self-confidence booster, but I can’t stay too high and can’t stay too low.”

That’s actually been the point MHS coach Craig Yenzer has tried to drive home the most to Goodrum this week.

“We talked (earlier this week) about not getting too big of a head,” said Yenzer, who described Goodrum as a “humble” person. “I told him that usually the quarterback is going to get the blame for a loss and not too much of the credit for a win. Friday was an exception. There’s going to be highs and lows. The key is for him to not get too high and not get too low. I want him to keep it all in perspective.”

Goodrum’s performance on Friday also included 18 consecutive completions after he missed on his first attempt of the game. His third pass on the night ended up going for a 55-yard TD, and the read wasn’t as simple as it looked.

Goodrum was looking for speedy senior receiver DeAndre Goodley to run a post, but the Coronado defender took that route away. Goodley adjusted and headed straight up the field instead, and Goodrum recognized the change of direction and put a perfect pass on Goodley for Midland High’s first TD of the night.

That play didn’t only boost Goodrum’s confidence. It also instilled a belief in the entire team that Goodrum could get the play done.

“I knew he was always getting us the ball in practice, but when I saw his first five completions I starting thinking he’s really on a roll,” said Goodley, who had 212 receiving yards and three TDs against Coronado. “Then it was 10, 15 and got all the way up to 18. Then we knew he had it in him. After that first TD catch, from that point, I was like ‘Let’s go. It’s time to get rolling.’”

Goodrum’s confidence seemed to carry over during practice this week as well. In Wednesday’s practice, the junior quarterback completed 24 of 26 attempts during the Bulldogs’ pass hull session.

Of course, the problem with bursting on the scene with a record-breaking performance can be the crazy expectations placed on him moving forward.

So how does Goodrum top what he did last week? By doing his best to get the Bulldogs into the playoffs.

“That’s going to be really hard to do,” Goodrum said of topping last week’s showing. “I’m just going to come out and play. It doesn’t matter who has the individual stats. It’s about who gets the win.”

And the Bulldogs likely need two more wins to get into the postseason.

Last meeting/series: Midland High 44, Odessa High 7 (2012); Midland High leads series 48-44.

Weather forecast: Clear skies with a game-time temperature of 67, dipping into the low-60s as the game progresses. No chance of precipitation.

Five things you need to know

-- Odessa High senior running back C.J. Eddison is second in District 2-5A with 1,244 rushing yards on 178 carries. Eddison also has 15 TDs on the season. His rushing total already gives him the ninth most productive season on the ground in Odessa High history.

Eddison is just 21 yards away from being the ninth player in the program’s history to have more than 2,000 rushing yards in a career.

-- For as good as Eddison has been, perhaps the biggest key to the Odessa High offense this season is senior quarterback Ryan Martinez.

Martinez missed much of last season with injuries, playing in just four games and managing a mere 80 yards through the air on 11 of 26 passing. However, it’s started to click for Martinez this season and he’s passed for 1,346 yards, 11 TDs and seven interceptions on 83 of 134 passing.

Last week, he threw for a career best 308 yards in a loss to Abilene High, and has been a decent threat with his legs as well, rushing for 378 yards and three TDs on the season.

“We’ve had to use him a little bit more because people are honing in on C.J. too much,” OHS coach Ron King said. “Throwing the ball, he’s down an outstanding job compared to last year. He’s actually going through progressions, is making more accurate throws and our receivers are doing a better job of getting open and catching the ball as well.”

-- King considers Midland High a much more balanced team after the emergence of junior quarterback Ryan Goodrum and a rebirth to the Bulldogs’ passing game last week.

“I’m impressed with their offense,” King said. “They got a big, physical running back and I’ve been impressed with the quarterback. He seems poised in the pocket and very accurate. He’s able to go to a second read and he doesn’t like he gets rattled too easily.”

-- The winner of this game will help its playoff chances immensely, but a loss for Odessa High eliminates the Bronchos from playoff contention. Midland High can lose tonight and still have a shot at getting into the playoffs.

-- The Bulldogs will be without senior quarterback Sam Grimes, who injured his throwing hand after the starting the game last week against Lubbock Coronado. Grimes is out indefinitely with the injury. Senior Preston Howey will serve as the backup to Goodrum.

Senior defensive tackle Phillip Wright is also going to be sitting out after he re-injured his ankle against Coronado. Wright has missed a majority of the season with a high ankle sprain.

In good news, the Bulldogs do get senior fullback Brandon Infiesto back after he sat out the previous two games.